


Customer Service Skills

by TheFoxyAssassin



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Retail, F/F, One Shot, Tw karen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 05:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26348113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoxyAssassin/pseuds/TheFoxyAssassin
Summary: Amity's summer job at Target teaches her the greatest lesson of any retail job: hell is other people
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 23
Kudos: 227





	Customer Service Skills

**Author's Note:**

> As inspired by this [post](https://calexn.tumblr.com/post628179120787996672) by [Calexn](Http://calexn.tumblr.com)

The summer was the greatest season in a young adult’s life. It marked one’s freedom, their escape from the binding prison of academia into the warm, blossoming world of possibilities. Boring classrooms were left behind and lockers emptied. Backpacks were thrown thoughtlessly to the side for three months of neglect. No more pencils. No more books. No more teachers’ dirty looks.

At least that was the case for most kids Amity’s age. Out beyond the windows, she looked in pining, were the smiling faces of those unburdened by capitalism’s shackles. She was not one of them. Instead of planning day trips and hanging out with friends (had she any), Amity had traded in one cold, drab box for another. Her parents had more than enough supplemental income to fund her and her siblings’ summer fun, not that they ever asked for much. Yet, it was still an expectation that a Blight be working their hardest even when everyone else got a break. She couldn’t rest even for a moment, she swore so whether it was summer school or summer camp or sports training, it had to be something. Having decided to quit grugby, Amity had settled for a summer job in the only field that hired teenagers, retail.

Target wasn’t so bad. The air conditioning was always on. The hours were manageable. The pay was minimum, but that was still a lot to a teenager. And she wasn’t there alone. Luz was working too. The overly optimistic girl usually took on stocking duties, running around the store, and talking to everyone she saw. She was kind like that and Amity’s position at the register gave her a front-row seat to, very platonically, observe Luz. She looked cute in uniform. So yeah, Target wasn’t so bad.

At least that was what she’d thought until her spying was interrupted by the worst part of her occupation, a customer. Amity wasn’t antisocial by any means. People sometimes accused her of being a touch mean, which was something she was working on. But she’d never harbored a great distaste for people until very recently. Whenever Amity bragged about being a top student, far above her peers, she hadn’t expected the gap to be so extreme. But each and every day she interacted with a patron of her department store, her opinion of humankind as a whole seemed to drop considerably. Between inane questions with obvious answers, directions to items right in front of them, and all manner of other perplexities, it was a wonder some people could even feed themselves. It wasn’t everyone. Plenty of people were polite, reasonable, and seemingly self-sufficient, but every once in a while…

Amity put on her customer service smile and greeted the woman before her as she always did, “good afternoon. How are you doing today?” Without waiting for an answer, she began sliding items over the laser scanner with a slow, consistent beeping that would sometimes haunt her dreams at night.

Her customer was a tall blonde who moved in a hurry and spoke in a huff, “Fine, thank you.”

It was a little shallow and slightly tart response, but it wasn’t like Amity really cared about the answer anyways. She was only making conversation for a good employee review. Her mom, uh, manager had said she had great potential before. “That’s good to hear. Were you able to find everything alright?”

After a moment, the rather tired woman finished loading her purchases onto the conveyor belt. “Actually, I had wanted to get a specific tea while I was here and I wasn’t able to find it.”

_That probably means we didn’t have it._ Amity thought to herself

She dug through her purse to locate her wallet as Amity’s beeping continued. “I asked one of your workers to find it for me but she was no help.”

That was odd. Luz was the one this lady had probably talked with, but not many people would describe Luz as “unhelpful”

“She told me she would look in the back and then gave me a different kind of tea entirely. The girl seems like she might be a bit of a ditz, but it's fine. I just wish they’d had someone more capable.” She commented, making sure her irritation was known.

_Oh._ Amity’s face lost its cheeriness. So things were going to be like that were they? Well then she was just gonna oh so casually put this woman’s bread at the bottom of the bag underneath something heavy, don’t mind her

Amity continued on her scanning quietly. Her customer watched the register’s screen judgingly as her total cost slowly rose. It was fairly high, but she was getting a lot of stuff. The math added up as far as Amity could tell but some people felt the need to double-check for some reason. For a moment, Amity saw the woman’s eyes widen as she locked onto something. Amity braced herself.

“Pardon me.” Ugh, don’t. “I believe that these were supposed to be on sale actually.”

Amity looked at the item she was gesturing to and back to the screen. “It’s not ringing up that way.”

“It was supposed to be less.”

It was only the difference of a dollar. “I’m sorry, but I’m fairly certain that sale has already ended. The register isn’t showing it anymore.”

“I was led to believe that it would not cost this much”

Ok, well that didn’t sound like her problem. “I’m sorry you were under that impression.”

“Well, can’t you just change it?”

“Uh...” Can I just drop the price of something for no reason? “Ma'am this is a Target. I can't do that, no"

“I don’t see why not. It was selling for less just yesterday. What difference would it make?”

_B-Bitch?_ Amity felt a headache coming on. Any lingering facade of civility she’d had was fading as she quietly tried to explain to this weirdo that she did not control the price of Target. “I-”

“Listen, I’m in a bit of a hurry here, so why don’t you just give me the lower price and I’ll be on my way. Look, the packaging is almost damaged”

Alright, now she was just pulling things out of her ass as far as Amity could tell, but she did her best to address the woman’s bullshit concerns, “If you’re not happy with this item’s state, perhaps you could select a better one. Now, as I was trying to s-”

“Excuse me? Don’t cop an attitude with me. You know, thus far neither of the employees I’ve spoken with have been very helpful. Perhaps this establishment needs to do a better job training you.”

This woman better watch herself or Amity swore. She was getting really frustrated now. “I assure you I am very capable o-”

“Then I will take the discount without further argument.” she interrupted again.

“Listen lady, I can't just change the cost of something!”

“Then it sounds like you are not very capable. You know what? I think I would like to speak to your manager.”

There it was. Amity wanted to do everything she could to avoid this, but now that they were here, she knew there was no going back. She could try and protest in vain. “I don't see what you would talk to her about since I just to-”

“No, please call over someone else for me to talk to.”

“You can talk to me.”

“I would like someone with actual authority. “

“My manager is just going to repeat what I said.”

“I’m through speaking with you.”

It was useless. No matter how much it made her skin crawl, Amity would have to comply with the woman’s demands and it probably only enabled her complaining! Letting her think she could get whatever she wanted just by being a pain. She was ready to go off on this woman if she could. Her nail are sharp. She just got a manicure. She could go a lot of damage if she wanted to.

Amity had two managers at her job. One of them was a poised and effective leader. She did all of the scheduling, brushed everyone up on rules and procedures, and coordinated most of the important stuff. Lilith was a great role model who made Amity want to do a better job and who’s praise she highly valued. Her other manager, Eda, was… eccentric and a tad less poised, collected, coordinated, etc. She only had one of them in today.

Only a few moments after Amity requested that someone give her a hand, Eda came waltzing down the store isles to intervene. She was dressed in a similar red uniform as Amity and her coworkers. Although, it undeniably looked far better on her than the rest of them. She was surprisingly foxy for her age, grey hair and all. Eda came up behind Amity with her hands on her hips and an unenthusiastic look on her face. “Alright, what’s all this about?” Before Amity could explain, her customer butted in once again. “I’ve been having an awful time in your store the entire time I’ve been here. I’d simply like to make my final purchase and leave, but this cashier is trying to overcharge me and I won’t stand for it.”

The fabrications in the story were obvious even without the look Eda and Amity exchanged. Amity might be slightly worried about the impression this would leave of her to her boss, but Eda could smell a lie from a mile away. “Overcharging you, huh?” She said with skepticism. “How so exactly?” The woman went on to describe the troubles she’d been having today in very suspect terms as Eda’s eyes glazed over and her attention slowly drifted elsewhere. She tuned back in at the end, “so I would just like to make my purchase at the sale price”

“Sale?” Eda glanced at the item in question, before turning to Amity, “Didn’t the sale on this end yesterday?” Amity nodded grumpily, surprised Eda was looking to her for anything. Eda nodded back, confirming her thoughts. “Well, you heard the girl, the sale ended. It’s no longer being sold for that price.”

The woman gawked for a moment. She found her bearings again and made another attempt to plead her case. “Well, I’m sorry I’m a day late, but surely you can still honor it, especially after the awful experience I’ve had.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t have one of the things you were looking for, but it looks like you were able to find an alternate. “

“B-but… the packaging is damaged as well.” She asserted.

Eda lifted the item and examined it. “It looks fine to me.” Amity couldn't help by sit by with a smug smile.

“Wh- No, look right there!” the woman leaned over the counter to point.

Eda squinted sarcastically, “I supposed it’s a bit crunched, but I hardly think it’s damaged anything inside. If it really matters to you, I can send my stock girl to fetch you a better one.” She tossed the item behind her and was just about to call out for Luz when she was interrupted.

“No, not her again.” The customer huffed. Amity scowled. “Fine, then just take it off my receipt. I don’t care anymore. I have other things to do today.”

“Are you sure?” Eda smiled pleasantly. “I’ve actually heard very good things about it. I’m sure it would make a lovely afternoon drink!”

“Yes, yes now would you please hurry up!”

“Alright, if you’re absolutely positive you don’t want a cool drink on a hot day.” At this point, she just seemed to be wasting the woman’s time on purpose and she thought it was very funny. Amity took a step forward back towards the register to finish up, but Eda put a hand out to block her. “That’s ok, kid. I’ll finish up from here. Why don’t you go and take your break.” The matronly woman smiled at her knowingly. She wouldn’t accuse Amity of it out loud, but she suspected this interaction had left the teen more frazzled than she would admit.

And she was right. Dealing with any kind of mean customer was scary, even when they were being unreasonable and even when Amity knew she hadn’t done anything wrong. Not to mention, listening to the old bat talk badly about Luz had really made her upset. Who was she not to appreciate one of the most adorable people in the world? The whole ordeal made her want to punch something. She’d summon a huge monster to do her bidding and scare the woman if she could. Instead, she just took a deep breath, nodded to Eda once again, and walked away.

She could hear Eda in the background, continuing to berate the customer on the certainty of the tea decision. It did bring a small smile to Amity’s lips. After a short trip, she turned into the employee break room, shut the door behind her, and collapsed into a chair, slamming her face onto the table on her way down. She groaned so loudly, she threatened to alarm someone in the next room over.

_Nitwit, bully, pinhead._ Angry, violent thoughts swarmed around her like a storm cloud. She was so caught up in her own head that she didn’t hear someone else come in. _Moron, numbskull, bi-_ “Hey, Amity”

She shot straight up with perfect posture. Her eyes were wide and her face a mess of a blush, “H-Hi Luz!” Only then did she realize her coworker was sitting right next to her, far too close for comfort.

“Are you doing alright? I saw you trying to check out that lady. It looked kind of rough.” Luz looked at Amity with concern. Amity’s heart suddenly started beating much faster.

“o-oh yeah.” She did her best to play it off coolly, “It was nothing. I mean, she was a handful, but uh, nothing I couldn’t handle, you know!” She chided herself mentally. _Nothing she couldn’t handle? Obviously she couldn’t if Eda had to come rescue her. Luz had probably seen that too._

“I had talked with her earlier. She was a nasty piece of work.” Luz lamented sympathetically. It was Amity’s turn to look concerned now, but Luz was quick to correct it. “Oh, but I’m ok! She wasn’t as bad to me as she was to you, so don’t worry.”

_Maybe not out loud…_ Amity thought to herself, anger rising again. She wasn’t able to simmer for too long before Luz turned the attention back on her. “Well, if you ever have another mean customer, you can always come and get me for help. I’ll be your fearless champion!” The girl smiled brightly and struck a pose without a hint of irony. It was such a genuine sentiment; it flustered Amity all over again.

“Y-Yeah, thanks…”

An awkward silence settled over them for a few moments. The tension in the Target break room grew thicker. After a moment, Luz stood back up, chuckling to herself with a nervousness Amity didn’t pick up on. “Hehe, well… I should probably get back to it since I’m not on break like you, but I hope you feel better.” She slowly started backing away towards the door.

“Right! Uh, I will. I mean, I do uh...” Why was she always such a mess around her? “Thanks for checking in on me.” Did that mean she was worried about her?

“Of course!” Luz chimed. She was almost out of the room now, but was lingering at the door. “And if you want to, we can do something after your shift to cheer you up. I know this cute little ice cream shop close by, my treat!”

Amity wasn’t sure if she’d heard that right, but was quick to jump on the idea. “Yeah! That would be great!” That was too loud…

“Awesome! I’ll see you later then. Have a nice break!” With that she slipped out the door, finally gone from sight. Amity was left alone to reflect on what had happened. She found herself staring at the door Luz had felt through for a long time until everything hit her at once. Overwhelmed with emotion, she covered her face with her hands and began giggling excitedly. She had a date! Whether Luz realized it or not, she had ended up making Amity feel much better.

**Author's Note:**

> I like to think that Eda gets along really well with all the younger employees and doesn't let other people mess with them. I also think that she brings her dog, King, into the store all the time despite Lilith's protests to the contrary. I don't know what Willow or Gus are up to, but Edric and Emira absolutely come to Target just to mess up displays and ask Amity annoying questions. Luz likes it when they visit :D


End file.
